Experts at a press briefing yesterday said initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth can prevent one-third of neonatal deaths in the country every year.
They also disclosed that around 240 under-five children die every day for not having breastfeeding properly.
Its positive effects stay on for years breastfeeding for longer time periods reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks for the mother, later in life. 100,000 post-menopausal women in the US, who reported at least one live birth in their lifetime, were studied for risk of cardiovascular diseases by a team of researchers. Mothers who breastfed their children for at least a
It seems India just can't save its little babies. Globally 9.7 million babies under five die and 2.1 million are in India alone. Around 27 million births occur in India every year, but 1.7 million infants die before one year and 1.08 million within one month.
There is an intense interest in the effects of breastfeeding on the health of an offspring and in understanding the mechanisms behind these effects. It is widely known that breastfeeding is the most nutritious way to feed an infant, but it is less known that the benefits that a child and mother receive from breastfeeding continue throughout life, even after breastfeeding has stopped.
The occurrence of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in human blood is known to be widespread; nevertheless, the sources of exposure to humans, including infants, are not well understood. In this study, breast milk collected from seven countries in Asia was analyzed (n = 184) for nine PFCs, including perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA).
The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992 attempted to curb the efforts of baby food manufacturers to undermine breastfeeding and was further amended in 2003 to plug loopholes. However, public-private health partnerships are now found to be advocating nutrition policies aimed at helping food multinationals increase their markets. A stronger legislation is thus needed to fight this practice.
Chronic arsenic exposure causes a wide range of health effects, but little is known about critical windows of exposure. Arsenic readily crosses the placenta, but the few available data on postnatal exposure to arsenic via breast milk are not conclusive. The goal of the study was to assess the arsenic exposure through breast milk in Bangladeshi infants, living in an area with high prevalence of arsenic-rich tube-well water.
the prime minister's commitment to tackle malnutrition among children by promoting breastfeeding seems to be hollow. The cabinet has agreed to increase maternity benefit allowance for working women
